The Big Ten gets back to the grind after a shaky week. Divisional contenders Wisconsin and Michigan had victories that they slept through. To make matters worse, national title contender Ohio State got embarrassed at home by Oklahoma. Northwestern was yuck and Nebraska also lost. Thankfully Indiana and Iowa got power-five road wins, Illinois had a minor upset against Western Kentucky (according to Vegas it was an upset, at least) and Minnesota had everything clicking up at Oregon State. This weekend sets the table for league play with a lot of soft games but there are still a few nuggets worth checking out. As always, game times are central.
*Note, with Friday night games still rare in the Big Ten, I’ll highlight those like this: Friday, in order to have them stand out a bit until we all get used to this new scheduling. For week three, we have one Friday game.
Game of the Week
Wisconsin at BYU
Thanks to a week zero win, the Cougs have a win. Unfortunately they were manhandled by LSU and came up short against rival Utah in the Holy War, losing 19-13. BYU’s offense is a mess right now and a lot of it has to do with generating zero running game, but this is a home game in a true home field advantage thanks to a large stadium, a loud stadium, and a stadium with altitude. Wisconsin played a sloppy first half against Utah State and then had an erratic showing against FAU. Continuing to have those flaws in Provo could put an upset bid on the table.
- Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC
Sleeper:
The Illini are back folks! Okay, that’s hyperbole but the Illini are playing better two weeks in this season than they did at any point a year ago. They have a better identity offensively and defensively. The passing game also has a bit more pop. They survived a poor performance against Ball State and then played quite well against Western Kentucky. This week is something else though, a road trip to a ranked club. Asking the young Illini to pull the upset feels a tad optimistic, but keeping it close would continue to build towards something.
- Friday, 6:00 pm, ESPN
Don’t Forget:
The Blue Raiders are a team with a lot of C-USA hype and are hoping to win the league and make a bit of a splash nationally. Unfortunately they opened with a wretched game against Vanderbilt at home. They rebounded a week ago with a road victory at Syracuse so they aren’t worried about traveling to Minneapolis but they should be worried about taking on the Gophers. Hate to be a broken record but the Gophers looked fantastic against Oregon State. There have been a lot of sloppy games against non-con foes this year. I want to see Minnesota go 3-for-3 of polished performances to start the year and hit league play as one of the more confident teams in the league.
- Saturday, 2:30 pm, BTN
Snoozer:
Morgan State heads to New Jersey in one of the few FCS games the league has this year and it features the Knights, a team that just lost to Eastern Michigan. Count me out.
- Saturday, 2:30 pm, BTN…I literally just listed the GOTW and the Don’t Forget game as having 2:30 start times. Why the hell would you bother with this one?!
Upset Watch:
Right End – Thanks to the soft final week before league play hits full stride, there is just a single underdog and it is Purdue -7.5 at Missouri. The Boilermakers were vastly improved against Ohio and the Bobcats are supposed to have a defense. Missouri so far is 1-1 with a 72-43 victory over FCS Missouri State and a 31-13 loss to South Carolina. I’m not entirely sure how good the Boilermakers are but they are a lot better than MO state and even if not as good as USC, they should be able to move the ball and put up points on Mizzou. I kind of want to take the Train. Okay, yeah, I’m picking Purdue.
- Purdue at Missouri, Saturday, 3:00 pm, SEC Network
Wrong End – The most logical game would have Butch Davis bringing the boys from FIU up to Bloomington but due to the dangerous weather last week that game was cancelled. That leaves Northwestern and while I don’t see them blowing this game to 0-2 Bowling Green, who just lost to FCS South Dakota, it is hard to overlook the Wildcat’s dismal performance at Duke. NU’s offensive line is struggling mightily right now and when that happens, it puts any game in a little bit of jeopardy. Worse, a big upset in this one would drop NU under .500 to 1-2. That would be a nightmare scenario.
- Northwestern vs Bowling Green, 6:30 pm, BTN
Elsewhere (Alphabetical Order):
Iowa vs North Texas – The Hawkeye offense should be oozing confidence after winning in a shootout against in-state rival Iowa State. Meanwhile the defense was discombobulated at several points and the Cyclone offense took full advantage to make them look silly. Making the Mean Green’s day miserable on offense can hopefully give the Hawkeye D some mojo back.
- Saturday, 2:30 pm, ESPN2
Maryland – Idle
Michigan vs Air Force – The Falcon’s option look is always a bit pesky but Air Force graduated so much talent, especially defensively, that I’m not seeing much of a path for success in this one. Ideally, UM gets up big early to rest the starters but before that happens the passing game gets clicking a little better.
- Saturday, 11:00 am, BTN
Nebraska vs Northern Illinois – The Huskies weren’t a bad team last year, just horribly injured all season long, and they have proven to be somewhat back in 2017 already with a narrow three point loss at Boston College and then dominating Eastern Illinois. Cornhuskers should be able to bounce back at home from the Oregon game but this isn’t a cakewalk, either. Best case would be Tanner Lee gets some confidence as the passing game develops some against NIU.
- Saturday, 11:00 am, FS1
Ohio State vs Army – It’s a sad state of affairs for the Empire State when the best college football program is Army and the best NFL team are the Bills but here we stand. Huge congrats to Jeff Monken for getting the Knights relevant again and making a bowl last year. That said, while I always assume the option will trip clubs up, the fact is Ohio State is good an pissed off after that debacle last week against the Sooners. I’m not sure there is a worse time to play an Urban Meyer coached team then this week.
- Saturday, 3:30 pm, Fox
Penn State vs Georgia State – Panthers didn’t have a game last week and that might be a good thing since they would probably enter this match-up 0-2 instead of just the 0-1 they are at now. Simply put, this is a tune up for Penn State. Get up early, clear the depth chart, and try to prevent any starter from getting hurt.
- Saturday, 6:30 pm, BTN
Indiana (Cancelled), Maryland, and Michigan State are off.
Random Musing:
Before coming to Iowa Hayden Fry turned around two programs: SMU and North Texas, Iowa’s opponent Saturday. With North Texas, Fry went 40-23-3 and won a Missouri Valley title his first year. Wanting to get into a league with more prestige, North Texas left the Valley and played as an independent. Despite a winning record every year and a 19-3 final two seasons as well as a final poll appearance in 1977, Fry’s North Texas teams never got invited to a bowl. This was a factor that contributed to Fry taking the Iowa job. An intriguing what-if has to be, what-if North Texas got to a big bowl or into a big league? Where would they be now? Where would Iowa be now? Fun stuff to consider.
Big Ten and Counting 